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But is Granlund ready to be a #2 center? So you would still be getting a great package for next season and if by some chance Staal re-signs then you would get another draft pick. Also what would be the chances of moving Granlund to the wing?

One day after telling the Star Tribune he was willing to stay with the Wild if he was able to agree to a multi-year deal, Harding has signed a three-year, $5.7 million contract to remain in Minnesota. That's a $1.9 million cap hit, takes Harding two years past the expiration of Niklas Backstrom's contract and affords more time for young goalies Matt Hackett, Darcy Kuemper and Johan Gustafsson to develop.

This also gives the Wild lots of eventual options. As I've written over and over again, there's only one cage. Eventually, whether it's soon or more likely after they develop some more, you can bet the Wild will use a goaltender or two as assets and try to parlay them into established players and/or high draft picks in trades.

Harding turned 28 yesterday, returned last season from reconstructive knee surgery and gives the Wild a quality goalie to compete with Backstrom for the cage. Backstrom, 34, has suffered from durability issues the past few years.

Harding, too, in order to prove he can be a No. 1, needs to also overcome durability and consistency issues.

Harding's signing makes the goalie market a lot thinner this summer, so it'll be interesting to see how teams in need of a goalie reacts.

Hey Wild fans. I am a huge Penguins fan. I attended the Wild vs Penguins game early last season and I have to say you guys have great fans. Very courteous and very knowledgable. But I have a question for you Wild fans. I have a trade to purpose with you guys. If I were to offer you guys Jordan Staal, Paul Martin, Tyler Kennedy and a conditional 2013 3rd round pick if Jordan Staal signs an extension for Devon Setoguchi, Jason Zucker and your 1st round 2012 draft pick (#7 overall).
What are your thoughts about this deal?

My thoughts? You are fleecing us. Don't try to sell Martin and his AWFUL contract here (I read the Pens forum, you are trying to sell this exact trade package to almost all teams). He was the worst defender on your team which had terrible defense. I would rather roster Falk, Spurgeon, Scandella and Prosser then have Martin on the blue line.

Originally Posted by LionPenguin24

I definitely like the trades alot. I dont think Michalek is the problem in our defense. I think its more so Martin. If we could find a team that will take Martin's contract then I say we jump on that quickly.

We are not the team you are looking for to take a terrible contract and player for basically nothing. Also how does your price for Staal get so high when his contract expires next year? Without a signed extension at a reasonable price I dont want to touch him. He wants to be a top 6 player on a team, which he could be, but I dont give up all of that for him. We had to trade Burns for Setoguchi and actually create some scoring on the wing something your trade does not help us address that we still need help with even having Seto on the roster. We set our D back 2-3 years by trading Burns, something which your trade also does not address. We also have good depth down the middle with Granlund, Coyle and Phillips so Staal 2 years down the road could be forced back to the third line and become disgruntled. We have no need for Tyler considering we actually have a very strong bottom 6. Meanwhile your getting a 20-30 goal scorer (probably higher on the Pens), the number 7 pick in a good depth but not a superstar draft (Also Reinhart, Trouba, Dumba, Maatta I all love for us) and a good prospect that projects as a 2nd-3rd line winger with a good 2 way game. Add Despres with that trade instead of Martin and we can begin discussions.

Also in reference to Granlund, I am not sold on him being a center, he could very well be a winger, but I am pretty sure he will be a top 6 player for us next year no matter add Staal in the mix and he might have to play in the AHL, something at this point I do not feel would be good for him.

ok, first of all i agree staal is not the answer for he wild. you guys need wings not centers.

second martin had a horrible year no doubt about that. We were not a horrible defensive team we allowed 218 goals one more than the wild which was middle of the pack and were doing much better until the end of the year. (we did loose all clue how to play d in playoffs)

Martin has been a very good player all other seasons and while I believe he will bounce back from last year and become a solid puck moving solid defender he was. The contract is the reason most pens fans want him moved 5 million is a lot (for the way he played last year) in this era and we have other places for the money to be spent if he does regain fromer form he is well worth the money. His bad year and the fact we have other places for the money is reason for the want to move him we as fans are fickle and have point of what have you done for me lately. lately he sucked

i dont know alot about some of your guys coming up but staal getting pushed back to the third line would be unlikely and he will develope into a high number two center or low end number one line center.

the package and trades for staal are what is basically being reported as potential deals by most people and is all just speculation any way. to be honest the hurricane trade is my first choice for sutter #8 pick and justin falk for martin and staal and i beleive this trade that makes most sense for all teams and players concerned although would love setoguchi the trade does not really solve your needs or fill the holes on your roster. Those are the true measures of if a trade is fair good for both teams

Eh I dont know...I never liked Martin on the Devils, he was way overpaid from you guys from day one. I mean there are lots of puck moving D men that are not making as much as him that I would much rather have. You want to dump his contract to spend the money elsewhere, so you have to pay a price to dump as well, which is why I dont believe you will get as much as what that Carolina trade says.

Basically Koivu is our #1 and he will probably always be until retirement. Talk about an under rated player cant wait till he has some wings to play with. Granlund is rated as the #2 ranked skater outside of the NHL and plays center. He is pretty much everyone favorite for rookie of the year next year. He will be our #2 next year and in time will be the replacement for Koivu, which is why Staal would be forced to the third line. So he just makes no sense. I will not lie I would love to poach one of your two top D men and would be willing to trade there, but I dont know what exactly

Like martin or not he has always been an above average nhl d man that can play in all situations. He returns to form next year he is by no means over paid but with the depth we have at d and the need for money else where he is expendable.

I dont have a clue what we will get if we even trade Staal but that is what was rumored as the deal. I am not either gm so this is all fun fan speculation killing time until season and free agency gets started.

Koivu is a very good player and yes he very well could be your number one center until he retires. While his numbers are a little better than staals they are not worlds above his this is not a knock on either player but koivu best season was 22 goals 49 assists in 80 games for a ppg of. 89 on first line and pp unit for the wild. Staals best is 25 goals 25 assists in 60 games for an average of .83 ppg with limited pp time as third line center. I dont know alot about Granlund he has never played in nhl and while he very well should turn into a superstar nothing is for sure with prospects. Saying staal would be forced to 3rd line is a bit premature you never can tell. Like i said I dont believe trading staal to the wild reallly fills your needs which is what trades are meant to do.

Hey Wild fans. I am a huge Penguins fan. I attended the Wild vs Penguins game early last season and I have to say you guys have great fans. Very courteous and very knowledgable. But I have a question for you Wild fans. I have a trade to purpose with you guys. If I were to offer you guys Jordan Staal, Paul Martin, Tyler Kennedy and a conditional 2013 3rd round pick if Jordan Staal signs an extension for Devon Setoguchi, Jason Zucker and your 1st round 2012 draft pick (#7 overall).
What are your thoughts about this deal?

I'm not a fan of Martin in this trade. While I think he is a servicable to above average Dman when going strong, I'm not interested in a D man like that for 5mill and a Limited No Trade Clause.. I'm also not a big fan of giving up this much and only getting a 3rd round conditional pick if Staal doesn't re-sign.. Thats a HUGE risk IMO... Seto and Zucker are tradeable pieces in my mind, but i'm not all that interested in parting with the #7 pick either.. Unless we are trading up or down and there are other picks involved.

As for the Granlund talk.. I've read in several places that he wild are interested in him playing the wing so he could move into the FO circle if needed Especially on the PP. If he plays Center great, Cullen is only the # 2 center for another year, then having Granlund wing/center able to play #2 Center or Wing in the top 6 is a HUGE plus for the roster.

Well two quick things to say, still dont like Martin haha. I think the list of young players I said earlier all are more serviceable for us and we get to keep the cap room. Obviously you guys aren't trading staal anymore but hey getting someone in here to talk is great. Also Koivu has had to deal with having no serviceable wingers his entire career. Ask almost anyone and they will agree he is severely under rated because of this. Wait till heatley and seto and others can stay healthy and help.

As far as Granlund to the wing I'm all for it. It creates flexibility on PP's but if he was our #2 center there is no reason he couldn't do that and play wing on the top unit for the PP. this will def be an interesting season, but we need scoring depth and wingers along with a true pick moving D man badly.
.

Our bottom 6 is pretty solid we have good grind lines. We are in desperate need of probably 2 top six scoring wingers, if Latendresse signs then probably just one and we are going to go all out on Parise, but after that I think Hudler, or maybe even Kostitsyn would be good back up plans. We also need a puck moving D and a veteran shut down D. Im fine with keeping Foster as that shut down guy but I dont know if we will. I think Carle and Garrison should be our first calls for D since I dont think we are going to land Suter. We have A TON of cap space so something will happen its just a question of what.